Todd Siler

Todd Siler, Ph.D. (b: August 23, 1953) is an American visual artist, author, educator and inventor, equally well known for his art and for his work in creativity research. A graduate of Bowdoin College, he became the first visual artist to be granted a Ph.D. from MIT (interdisciplinary studies in Psychology and Art, 1986). Siler began advocating the full integration of the arts and sciences in the 1970's and is the founder of the ArtScience Program and movement. Siler combines insight into the creative process with advances in plasma physics and neurology, using multimedia arts to create lucid models of novel technological creations, in the tradition of Renaissance artists like Leonardo Da Vinci. In 2006, Siler used a multimedia exhibition at New York's Ronald Feldman Gallery to present his proposal for the nature-inspired "Fractal Reactor," which offers an environmental-friendly, alternative method of using controlled nuclear fusion for energy purposes. This proposal has been taken up by the International Atomic Energy Agency for further study.

Creativity Research

In the early 80's, Siler made an extensive study of genius across numerous disciplines to see what, if anything, such highly creative people as Einstein and Rachmaninoff have, or more importantly do, in common. Although such inquiries are standard, Siler's work went further than any work before or since in examining how methods used by highly creative people might work on the neurological and cellular level. "Creativity is any unconditioned response," is typical of Siler's approach, which both validates and challenges the work of luminaries in the field such as Howard Gardner, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Robert Root-Bernstein. These theories were elaborated in two books, "Breaking The Mind Barrier: The Artscience of Neurocosmology" (Simon and Schuster, 1990; Touchstone Books, 1992), which is largely intended for scholars, and "Think Like A Genius" (Bantam Books, 1997; Transworld, 1998) written for the general reader. Siler has developed these theories into proprietary programs which are used extensively in schools and corporations.

Visual Arts

The son of an aspiring concert pianist and bio-medical researcher, as a child, Siler was a prodigy in the fine arts, often using highly detailed drawings to express his ideas on integrating the arts and sciences. He studied art as an undergraduate, spending a year "apprenticed" in the studio of American artist Leonard Baskin. In his 20's Siler was part of the the same SoHo art scene which launched Julian Schnabel, Francesco Clemente and David Salle. Today, Siler’s artworks are in numerous public collections including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (20th Century Collection), The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, and The Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

Education and Invention

As an artist who has championed the study of science, Siler worked with the Cherry Creek School District (Colorado) to pioneer experiential learning methodologies based on the understanding and creation of systems of metaphor. These methodologies have since spread to both public and private schools in America and abroad. Siler was instrumental in developing the interdisciplinary curriculum for one of the world's most respected schools for the gifted, The Israel Arts and Science Academy (IASA) in Jerusalem.

These programs have become popular with Fortune 500 companies as a way of promoting out-of-the-box thinking. Siler has unusual credibility in the corporate community as in addition to being a successful artist and scholar, he holds a number of patents on a wide range of inventions, including a widely-used computer-graphics input device and textile printing machinery.

External links

http://www.thinklikeagenius.com
http://www.thinklikeagenius.com/software
http://www.metaphormit.com
http://www.toddsilerart.com
http://www.feldmangallery.com/pages/artistsrffa/artsil01.html
http://www.newhorizons.org/lifelong/workplace/siler.htm

References

Mary Lee Grisanti, "Fractal Reactor: Re-Creating the Sun,” NYArts Magazine (January 1, 2007).

Lilly Wei, "Fractal Reactor," Art In America (February Issue, 2007); pp.141,142.

Joy Overbeck, “Local Artist Goes Nuclear As He Fuses Art and Science…And Who Knows,Maybe He’ll Win the Nobel Prize,” in Colorado Expression (Oct./Nov., 2007); pp. 72-74.

Nora Caley, "Think Like A Genius!" Colorado Company Magazine (November/ December 2004) Issue, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 46-48.

Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein, Sparks of Genius: The 13 Thinking Tools of the World’s Most Creative People (New York: Houghton-Mifflin Company, 1999); pp. 157,158.

Todd Siler, “Fractal Reactor: Re-Creating the Sun,” Leonardo Journal of Art, Sciences & Technology Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 270-278 (The MIT Press, 2007).

Todd Lael Siler, “Fractal Reactor: An Alternative Method and Apparatus for Plasma Fusion,” Proceedings of the Fourth Symposium on Current Trends In International Fusion Research: Review and Assessment, (pp. 411-426) edited by Dr. Emilio Panarella (Ottawa, Canada: NRC Research Press, National Research Council of Canada, 2007).

Todd Siler, “Think Like A Genius Process,” The Change Handbook: Group Methods for Shaping the Future, 2nd Edition. Peggy Holman, Peggy, Tom Devane, and Steven Cady (Eds.) (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2007).

Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Closer To Truth: Challenging Current Belief. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000); Chapter 13: “Can You Learn To Be Creative?” and Chapter 16: “Why Do We Make Music and Art?” Book companion to the National Public Television Series.

Colleen Smith, “In ‘ArtScientist’ Todd Siler’s Palette, Gray Matters,” Colorado Expressions (December 10, 1997); pp. 44-48.

Jay Ambrose, “Thinking Like A Genius,” Scripps Howard News Service (December 23, 1997).

Todd Siler, Metaphorming Worlds (Taiwan, Republic of China: The Taipei Fine Arts Museum, 1995).

Todd Siler, "ArtScience: Integrating the Arts and Sciences To Connect Our World and Improve Communication," in Keynote Addresses (Houston, Texas: National Art Education Association, 1995).

Alan Dumas, "Learning to Think Like a Genius: Rethinking How We Think; Colorado artist/scientist Todd Siler has new ideas for creative learning," Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colorado (July 2, 1995); Feature article in Sunday Spotlight section; pp. 49A and 62A - 64A.

Owen McNally, "Todd Siler's art is mindful of science: In Siler's mind, art, science entwined," The Hartford Courant. (Wednesday, March 6, 1991); Cover page + p.2.

Patricia C. Philips, "Todd Siler at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Gallery" Artforum (May, 1987); p.147. Michael Schrage, "Painting -The Arts," OMNI Magazine (October 1982); pp.38, 193.